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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

6^an Gopj^rigi^l :]^n. 

Shelf ...:^.L 

r.MTF.n STATES OF AMERICA. 



THANATOPSIS. 



Of the stern agony, and shroud, 

and pall, 
And breathless darkness, and the 

narrow house, 
Make thee to shudder, and grow 

sick at heart ; — 
Go forth, under the open sky, 

and list 
To Nature's teachings, while 

from all around — 
Earth and her waters, and the 

depths of air — 
Comes a still voice — Yet a few 

days, and thee 
The all-beholding sun shall see 

no more 



19 



The narrow house. 



Go forth, under the 

open sky, and list to 

Nature's teachings. 



THANATOPSIS. 



In all his coarse ; nor yet in the 
cold ground, 




"where thy pale for?\t was laid, with 
many tears." 

Where thy pale form was laid, 
with many tears, 

29 



THANATOPSIS, 



And, lost each human trace, sur- 
rendering up 

Thine individual being, shalt thou 
go ^ 

To mix forever with the elements, 

To be a brother to the insensible 
rock 

And to the sluggish clod, which 
the rude swain 

Turns with his share, and treads 
upon. The oak 

Shall send his roots abroad, and 
pierce thy mould. 

Yet not to thine eternal resting- 
place 
Shalt thou retire alone, nor 
couldst thou wish 

33 



To thine eternal 
resting-place. 



THANATOPSIS, 



Couch more magnificent. Thou 
shalt lie down 




'THE OAK SHALL SEND HIS ROOTS ABROAD, 
AND PIERCE THY WOULD." 



With patriarchs of the infant 
world — with kines, 



39 



The vales stretching in 

pensive quietness 

between. 




r^J0'i 



c'¥- 



THANATOPSIS. 



The powerful of the earth — the 

wise, the good, 
Fair forms, and hoary seers of 

ages past, 
All in one mighty sepulchre. 

The hills 
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the 

sun, — the vales 
Stretching in pensive quietness 

between ; 
The venerable woods — rivers 

that move 
In majesty, and the complaining 

brooks 
That make the meadows green ; 

and, poured round all. 



45 



Rivers that move in 
majesty. 



The complaining 

brooks that make the 

meadows green. 



/ 









W 



THANATOPSIS. 



Old Ocean's gray and melancholy 

waste, — 
Are but the solemn decorations 

all 
Of the great tomb of man. The 

golden sun, 
The planets, all the infinite host 

of heaven, 
Are shining on the sad abodes of 

death, 
Through the still lapse of ages. 

All that tread 
The globe are but a handful to 

the tribes 
That slumber in its bosom. — Take 

the wings 



55 



Old Ocean's gray and 

melancholy 

waste. 



Like one who wraps 

the drapery of his 

couch about 

him. 



THANATOPSIS. 



Of morning, and the Barcan 

desert pierce, 
Or lose thyself in the continuous 

woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and 

hears no sound, 
Save his own dashings — ^''et the 

dead are there : 
And millions in those solitudes, 

since first 
The flight of years began, have 

laid them down 
In their last sleep — the dead reign 

there alone. 
So shalt thou rest, and what if 

thou withdraw 



6i 



THANATOFSIS. 



Unheeded by the living, and no 

friend 
Take note of thy departure ? All 

that breathe 
Will share thy destiny. The gay 

will laugh 
When thou art gone, the solemn 

brood of care 
Plod on, and each one as before 

will chase 
His favorite phantom ; yet all 

these shall leave 
Their mirth and their employ- 
ments, and shall come 
And make their bed with thee. 

As the long train 



63 



Yet all these shall 

leave their mirth 

and their 

employments. 



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TH AN ATO PSIS, 



Of ages glide away, the sons of 

men, 
The youth in life's green spring, 
and he who goes 

In the fulL 
strength of 
years, mat- 
r o n and 
maid. 
And the sweet 
babe, and 
the gray- 
headed 
man — 
Shall one by one 
be gathered to thy side. 




" WHEN THY SUMMONS 
COMES." 



The youtli in life's 
green spring. 











C 



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The sweet babe, and 

tlie gray-lieadecl 

man. 



THANATOFSIS, 



By those, who in their turn shall 
follow them. 

So live, that when thy summons 

comes to join 
The innumerable caravan, that 

moves 
To that mysterious realm, where 

each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of 

death. 
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave 

at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but, 

sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach 

thy grave, 

79 



THANATOPSIS. 



Like one who wraps the drapery 
of his couch 




"sustained and soothed by an un- 
faltering TRUST." 



About him, and lies down to 
pleasant dreams. 



COLLECTION OF MASTER- 
PIECES. 

This Collection of certain of the most 
successful and best-loved works by vari- 
ous authors has been entered upon by its 
publishers with the intention of making- 
it as exquisite and perfect in form as 
possible. Each volume contains a large 
number of original illustrations by well- 
known artists, made especially for the 
Collection, and printed with the utmost 
care. 

The 'typographical details are some- 
what in the best modern French style, 
and the paper is of the highest grade, 
and has been manufactured especially 
for this Collection, which is issued in a 
variety of beautiful bindings, to corre- 
spond with the dainty interiors of the 
books. 

The following volumes are ready, each 
of which can be had in either of the 
bindings described: 

Masterpieces of Prose and Verse. 

" Selections from Point Lace and Dia- 
monds." Baker. Illustrated by C. 
Moore-Sm ith . 



*' A Child's Dream of a Star." Dick- 
ens. Illustrated by Elizabeth S. 
Tucker. 
"The DayDkeam." Tennyson. Illus- 
trated by IV. St. John Harper. 
"Evangeline." Longfellow. Illus- 
trated by Charles Howard Johnson. 
"Thanatopsis." Bryant. Illustrated 

by Corivin Knapp Linson. 
"Songs of Seven." Ingelo\v. Illus- 
trated by Kirk Este. 
"Violet" bindinor, with backs of can- 
vas, richly ornamented in j(old, and with 
outer sides illuminated with design of 
purple violets, with gold background. 
Gilt top. In a box. 

Per volume, .... 75 cents. 
Full dull brown cloth, or full white 
cloth, with artistic ornamentation in 
gold. Gilt lop. In a bo.x. 
Per volume, .... 75 cents. 

Half calf. Gilt top. In a box. 
Per volume, .... $1.50. 

Limp calf. Red-under-gold edges. 
In a box. 
Per volume, .... $2.00. 

Other volumes in preparation. 



Specimen Pages, 

A Cliild's Dream of a 
Star/' Dickens. 

Collection of '' Mastcrpitcesy 




specks play- 
- -' • ing at hide- 

and-seek in 
the sky all night, must surely 
be the children of the stars ; 
and they would all be grieved 
to see their playmates, the 
children of men, no more." 
There was one clear, 
shining star that used to 
come out in the sky before 
the rest, near the church 
spire, above the graves. 






L _ic 




A CHILD S DREAM OF A STAR. 

sister drooped, and came to be 

so very weak that she could no 

longer stand in the window at 

night ; and 

then the child 

looked sadly 

out by himself 

and when he 

saw the star, 

turned round 

. and said to 

the patient 

THE CHTLD LOOKED pale face on 

SADLY OUT BY 

HLMSELF. the bed, " I 

see the star ! " and then a smile 
would come upon the face, and a 
little weak voice used to say, "God 
bless mv brother and the star ! " 








i^ i;^ 




Specimen Pages, 

Evangeline/' Long- 
fellow. 

Collection of " IMasterpieces?'' 




PATIENCE : THE PKIEST WOULD SAY. 




x> 



""HUNTING FOR FURS IN THE FORESTS." 



34 



K \ A N <. K 1. INK 



Silenced, but not convinced, when the 
story was ended, the blacksmith 

Stood like a man who fain would 
speak, but findeth no language ; 

And all his thou<ihts congealed into lines 
on his face, as the vapors 

Freeze in fantastic shapes on the win- 
dow-panes in the winter. 

Then Evangeline lighted the brazen 
lamp on the table. 




" WROTE WITH A STEADY HAND.'' 




HOLDING ALOFT IN HIS HANDS, WITH ITS SEALS, 
THE ROYAL COMMISSION." 



74 EVANGELINE. 

Over the watery floor, and beneath the 

reverberant branches ; 
But not a voice replied ; no answer came 

from tlic darkness ; 
And, when the echoes had ceased, like a 

sense of pain was the silence. 
Then Evangeline slept ; but the boatmen 

rowed through the midnight, 
Silent at times, then singing familiar 

Canadian boat-songs, 




" WATliK-LlLIES IN MVKIADS.'' 

Such as they sang of old on their own 

Acadian rivers, 
And through the night were heard the 

mysterious sounds of the desert. 
Far off, indistinct, as of wave or wind in 

the forest. 



Specimen Pages, 

''The Day Dream/ 
Tennyson. 

CoUeaicn of " Masterpieces:' 



fr-^ 










THE DAY-DREAM, 



III. 



O eyes long laid in happy 
sleep ! ' 
' O happy sleep, that hghtly 
fled ! ' 




*' AND o'er them many A FLOWING RANGE 
OF VAPOR BUOy'd THE CRESCENT-BARK." 

' O happy kiss, that woke thy 
sleep ! ' 
' O love, thy kiss would wake 
the dead ! ' 

S3 



THE DAY-DREAM, 



Each baron at the banquet sleeps. 
Grave faces gather'd in a ring. 




AND BEAKER BRIMM D 
WITH NOBLE WINE. 



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Specimen Pages, 

" Songs of Seven." In- 
gelow. 

Collection of " Masterpiecesr 



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"but i'll love him more, more than e'er wife 
loved before, be the days dark or bright." 



BY THE SYCAMORE 

PASSED HE, ANDTHROUGH 

THE WHITE CLOVER. 



SONGS OF SEVEN, 



IV. 

A song of a nest : — 
There was once a nest in a 
hollow : 




" I PRAY YOU HEAK MY SONG OF A NEST, 
FOR IT IS NOT LONG." 

Down in the mosses and knot- 
grass pressed, 
Soft and warm, and full to the 
brim — 

107 



SONGS OF SEVEN, 








"o VELVET BEE, VOU'rE A DUSTY FELLOW. 

O velvet bee, you're a dusty fel- 
low, 
You've powdered your legs 
with gold ! 
O brave marsh marybuds, rich 
and yellow, 
Give me your money to hold ! 

O columbine, open your folded 
wrapper. 
Where two twin turtle-doves 
dwell ! 

17 





m 



Specimen Pages, 

' Selections from Point 

Lace and Diamonds/' 

Baker. 

Collection of " Alasterpieces.''' 




":? 



AVE TWO too:-: tossession of the stairs. 

— Paze 8. 



20 FROM *' J'OINT LACK AND DIAMONDS." 




" HliK FACE IS SAINT-LIKE." 



That briglit young creature kneel- 
ing tliere 
With every feeling, every thought 

Absorbed in higli and holy dreams 
Of — new Spring dresses, truth to 
say 
To them the time is sanctified 

From Shrove-tide until Easter 
dav. 





I, HELENA, TAKE THEE — LOVE — CHER- 
ISH and' — WELL, I can't HELP 

IT, — 'obey.'" 



CHIVALKIK. 




" HEK 1 AIHKk's voice CAME THROIGH THE 

WOOIJ, Hi:"u MADE A lOKTUNE 

TANNING LEATHEK." 

Above, the heavens aglow with 

light, 

Beneath our feet the sleeping 

ocean, 

E'en as the sky my hope was bright. 

Deep as the sea was my devotion. 

Her father's voice came through 
the wood, 
He'd made a fortune tanning 
leather ; 
I was his clerk; I thought it good 
To keep on talking about the 
weather. 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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